Boston AM dial 50 years ago

[Kevin Vahey]

Let's start with post WWII radio in Boston

The major players were WBZ (1030), WNAC (1260) and WEEI (590) - by
1948 WHDH (850) also became a force.

WNAC would buy WLAW (680) to enhance signal.

Nobody gave a hoot about MetroWest in those days or for that matter
the south shore.

In the late 50's WMEX (1510) and WCOP (1150) went after the teen
market with moderate success. WHDH had MOR locked up by the early 60's
so WBZ went after the teens and blew WCOP out of the picture. WEZE
became the most listened to station in town with 'beautiful music' and
gave up NBC radio which WCOP grabbed.

I would surmise that in November of 1963, WHDH was the king of Boston radio.

On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 9:35 PM, Dan.Strassberg <dan.strassberg@att.net> wrote:
> Couple of errors popped out: In 1963, WNAC 680 was DA-1; it has been DA-2
> for many years but, AFAIK, not all the way back in 1963. In 1963, WMEX ran 5
> kW DA-1 from a two-tower array in Quincy (no longer in use by any station).
> 50-kW-D and the third tower in Quincy didn't come along until the end of the
> '60s or maybe the beginning of the '70s. And I suppose you didn't mention
> that WCRB 1330 is now co-located with 1200 as well as 1600 because you
> didn't mention 1200 in your list. BUT 1200 should have been listed--as a 1
> kW daytimer on 1190, WKOX, licensed to Framingham and transmitting from a
> single tower at what is now the two-tower WSRO-650 site.
>
> BTW, among all Boston-area AMs, does the 1190 (and later 1200, 1060, and
> 650) Mt Wayte site hold the record for the largest number of tower
> collapses? (Collapses don't include towers that were intentionally
> razed.)There are other contenders for those honors; 1430 being one.
>
> -----
> Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net)
> eFax 1-707-215-6367
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Connelly" <markwa1ion@aol.com>
> To: <boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 7:58 PM
> Subject: Boston AM dial 50 years ago
>
>
>> With the current media coverage (some would say 'feeding frenzy') about
>> the JFK assassination 50 years ago, I thought I'd look back to that period
>> in terms of metro-Boston AM radio stations.  I was 14 at the time, a
>> freshman at Arlington High School and, as noted at
>> "http://swling.com/blog/2013/11/listener-post-mark-connelly/", was already
>> seriously dug into radio and electronics from both the aspect as
>> entertainment medium and scientific hobby.
>>
>> I invite historians among you (Donna Halper, Dan Strassberg, et al.) to
>> look over and critique the listing below for accuracy.  I have not
>> included stations from towns much beyond Route 128 so Lowell, Brockton,
>> etc. aren't included.
>>
>> Mark Connelly
>> South Yarmouth, MA
>>
>> -----
>>
>>
>> WNAC - 680
>> talk, variety, Yankee Network news, Texaco Metropolitan Opera broadcast on
>> Saturday afternoon, affiliated with TV Channel 7
>> 50 kW day and night, three-tower DA Burlington, MA same as present WRKO
>>
>> WCRB - 1330
>> classical music ("Concert Radio Boston")
>> 5 kW day and night, three-tower DA Waltham, MA near Brandeis U., about 5
>> miles north of present WRCA Newton site which is now co-located with 1600.
>>
>> WMEX - 1510
>> Top 40 music (famous DJ's include Melvin X, Arnie Ginsberg), talk (Jerry
>> Williams)
>> 5 kW day and night, three-tower DA Quincy, MA about half a mile east of
>> then/now 1260 site.  Present WUFC - 1510 site in Waltham, MA (about 12
>> miles NW) got started around 1981 when 1510 went to 50 kW day and night.
>>
>